


EXO - Monster

by JuriSalora



Category: EXO (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe, Experimental Story, M/M, Shit's going down, but I don't exactly know what or how, please interact with me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:13:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21654307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuriSalora/pseuds/JuriSalora
Summary: 'Monster', an organization that holds responsibility for some of the worst crimes.'EXO', a group of childhood friends, who unexpectedly meet again after a long time.'We are one', a promise that was meant to secure their friendship, but could now very much be their doom.This is a little experiment of mine, please read the foreword.
Relationships: Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Kim Jongin | Kai, Huang Zi Tao | Z.Tao/Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Wu Yi Fan | Kris
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. Foreword

So, this is a little experiment and I hope for your help to do it.

Music is my main inspiration for writing and what I write (which mood, events, how the characters react etc.) is highly influenced by it. So my plan is to write every chapter by listening to the same EXO-song the whole time to see what happens with the story. I will write the prologue, but I hope that after this you would request the song for the next chapter.  
I'm looking forward to the suggestions!

Also I will include Kris, Tao and Luhan, because I love them too much to not do this~

Pairings / ships aren't set yet.  
(Edit: I decided on KaiSoo and TaoRis, eventually more to come.)

But now on to the first chapter.

(Actually I found a pretty interesting thing on YouTube that's fitting with the prologue so I'll put it in the top part of it.)


	2. prologue - Monster

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the inspiration I had for this chapter:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5LpKNsszXc

Kris chuckled when he recognized the insignificantly shorter male. Tao had dyed his hair back to black and he seemed to be a lot more mature than when they had last seen each other. He still hadn't gained weight though, still the same skinny figure he had had eight years ago. _And_ he seemed to have gotten through police academy.

It was interesting, the blond thought, that they met again like this. It had been funny already when he had found the prison doctor to be Luhan who had belonged to the same group of friends, meeting Tao here, though, was simply hilarious.

"Follow me!"

Surprisingly, Kris had missed that voice a little. And he wanted to hear more of it. So he just ignored the order and waited, a grin plastered on his face despite the situation he was in.

Tao frowned at the disobedience. He seemed to think about using force. Then again Kris was pretty tall and strong and even though the other did have quite some strength in that slim body of his he still would struggle to force him to do something.

Kris' grin got wider when the younger used the only weapon that always worked on him.

" _Yifan_...please, just move..."

Without another act of resistance Kris followed the request.

~ ~ ~

This wasn't the first time he saw a prison from inside, but it still managed to amaze him in an kind of unhealthy way. The feeling of being led through floors of cells, hearing the prisoners talk about him, about their new _comrade_ , because, yes, he was here for a reason. To him it was addicting to feel the cold metal of handcuffs around his wrists while he remained completely himself, pride unbroken. And knowing Tao next to him, who shot him nervous glances from time to time, made it even better.

Being in prison was not that comfortable - especially if you were used to have quite a bit of money and live in luxury - but he didn't regret what had brought him here.

"Hey, Tao," he said, making the other wince at the deep, husky voice before he shot him an annoyed glare.

"What do you want?"

Kris smirked, leaning maybe a little to close to the smaller. He felt how the black haired tensed, ready to defend himself.

"Did you miss me, Tao?"

The slap made him wince slightly but another chuckle escaped him as he licked his lips and tasted blood.

"I'm warning you, Wu Yifan, don't you dare play with me! I don't feel like having a nice conversation at the moment and I hope you'll be able to hold your tongue!" Tao hissed in Chinese, looking not intimidating in the slightest.

Amused, Kris shut up and silently followed the other.

They came to the last block, where he would stay quite a while. Well, killing some people hadn't been that bad, but it probably hadn't been his smartest move to get caught in the process.

"Is that you, Kris? Funny meeting you here."

The blond arched an eyebrow upon hearing the familiar voice. He almost didn't recognize Suho. And the obnoxious tall redhead next to him seemed to be Chanyeol.

Tao shifted uncomfortably.

"You can talk later. You're in with them anyways..."

He searched for the keycard in his pocket, then quickly put in an eleven-digit code and slightly shoved the door open.

When he released Kris of his handcuffs and was about to leave the cell again, the taller slung an arm around his waist, pulling him close to him.

"Take care, Taozi," he whispered into the other's ear letting him go with a smirk.

"Fuck you, Yifan!"

With a hiss Tao stormed out of the cell, locking it behind him and hastily leaving afterwards.

Kris could hear a soft chuckle behind himself and turned towards Suho, who smiled at him.

"So, it has been a long time. How have you been?"

The blond just grinned. He just now noticed that Suho didn't seem to have grown in the past years and Kris was pretty much towering over him.

"What happened to the rest?" Kris asked, slightly interested and Suho laughed yet again.

"Apparently, we're all here. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are part of this cell as well and the rest's over there."

He pointed to the opposite cell, where Chen stood with a wide grin and waving at them while a stoic Sehun stood beside him.

Kris couldn't help but laugh.


	3. chapter 1 - Thunder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZi9GACNxt0

"I hate him," Tao murmured.

Luhan beside him chuckled. He knew very well who the taller was talking about.

"You don't."

Helplessly Tao threw his arms in the air and turned around to the smaller.

"You're right, I don't, and that's the problem!"

The two were seated in the break room for staff. Usually the room was fairly crowded, but it was late and they were the only ones except for two other guards, that played a game of cards in the back. They didn't even budge when they heard Tao's outburst.

"I don't see why it's a problem. As long as you remain professional there is no harm in not hating him. I still like Lay as well and it wasn't a problem till now."

He watched how the younger nibbled on his lower lip, seemingly deep in thought and turned back to his phone, where he was reading an article about a robbery in Shanghai.

"I don't understand how it was possible for us all to meet again here. Actually, why is Kris here? It doesn't make sense! As far as I know he committed all these crimes in China!"

Luhan just shrugged. He didn't know either. Also he didn't really feel like having a discussion with Tao at the moment. The younger had become more mature, yes, but he was still overly emotional and tended to get worked up easily. The brown haired doctor just wanted to enjoy his break, though.

"Luhan...Hyung...listen to me...!"

He tried hard to ignore the slightly whiny voice and concentrate on what he was reading, but he knew that he had already lost the battle. Whenever Tao wanted attention, he got it - and if he had to throw a tantrum. Unfortunately that was one of the things that hadn't changed.

"Luhan!"

The older sighed and turned off his phone.

"Yes, Tao?"

A beautiful, innocent smile graced the younger's lips and his heart dropped a beat. That smile should be illegal, he thought. Even for him, who clearly had other preferences in men, this smile was absolutely deadly.

"Can I tell you a secret, Hyung?"

It was still weird to hear Tao say 'Hyung'. After all they were both Chinese. Then again he had never called anyone 'Gege' - except for Kris. Kris always had been the great exception in Huang Zitao's life.

"Sure, tell me."

The black haired nodded and held his breath for a few seconds before he leaned closer to Luhan to whisper into his ear in Chinese.

"You know...eight years ago...when we were all still together...I had a huge crush on Kris-Ge. But I was too late."

Luhan stared at the other wide eyed and Tao grinned in embarrassment. The doctor had kind of known of this crush - it had been quite obvious - but he hadn't known that Kris had been in a relationship at that time.

"Who...?"

He didn't get to finish the question before Tao answered it with a bitter smile.

"Suho-Hyung."

If Luhan had been surprised that Kris had been in a relationship then this was a shock for him. If he hadn't expected someone then it was Junmyeon. Well, it did make sense when you thought about it. Suho and Kris had always kind of been like Mom and Dad of their group and he knew that Suho had held quite a bit of affection towards the taller. But on the other hand Junmyeon was just a very affectionate person in general...

Without waiting for the other to continue his thoughts Tao spoke again.

"I walked in on them. I think Suho-Hyung was drunk, but still... If Kris decided he had to get him laid then that means he must have had _some_ kind of feelings towards him..."

"But didn't Kris leave that year...?"

Luhan furrowed his brows and Tao shrugged.

"I really don't know what to think of Kris anymore. I think he tried to make a move on me just now. It just doesn't make sense to me."

"You stopped calling him 'Kris-Ge'," Luhan realized surprised.

He didn't know what to think of the situation either, but he hoped that Tao would be able to stay professional and not do anything stupid. Especially if he had had feelings for Kris.

"I don't know him anymore. He can't be a brother to me. It's too late for that."


	4. chapter 2 - Promise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtbyysqZ20U
> 
> This takes time five years before chapter one.

"We are one," Suho whispered.

It felt weird for him to say this phrase again. Especially because they were only nine right now. It still felt unreal to him that Luhan, Kris and Tao weren't part of their group anymore.

More reason for him to tell himself that they were still complete. It didn't matter if this was a lie. He wanted to believe it. He wanted to believe that the others would come back one day. Even though he knew that their promise of being twelve forever was long broken.

The rain in front of his window seemed to tell him the cruel truth and he looked away from it to lie to himself for a little bit longer, to believe that Kris would suddenly stand in front of his door again, that Luhan would suddenly greet him from the couch in the living room, that Tao would come jumping at him with bright eyes. It had been three years already, but Suho needed just a little bit longer. He was Suho, he was their guardian. But what would he be if the promise was broken and there was no longer anything to protect?

"Junmyeon-Hyung?"

He forced a smile on his face as he heard Baekhyun calling for him and reminded himself again that at the moment he was just Kim Junmyeon, the young, rich man without a job or any orientation, who had realized that money couldn't bring him anything back and was living on delusions since then.

"I'm coming, Baek. What's the matter?"

When he turned around he saw that the younger was already standing inside of his room. He looked worried.

"Were you staring at the rain again? You know that doesn't lift your mood, Hyung."

Junmyeon sighed.

"Yes... I know..."

"Kyungsoo made dinner. Will you join us?"

He wanted to decline, to say that he wasn't hungry, but without waiting for an answer, Baekhyun took his hand and pulled Junmyeon with him. 

"I know you don't want to, but you can't stay locked up in your room forever, Hyung. We haven't seen you in days!"

"But you know, I'm really not hungry..."

The younger stopped and looked at him like he would look at a child that had said something very dumb.

"Hyung, just because you don't show yourself during this time of the year doesn't make us less worried! We know that you still want the others to return, but that is not going to happen! It seems they didn't take our promise very serious and I don't want you ignore us and want them instead! It's unfair!"

"I don't...!"

Bakhyun didn't let him finish his sentence.

"I know that you love us and that you wouldn't like them instead of us, but it sometimes appears like it. And it fucking hurts, you know? It sometimes feels as if you had left us as well..."

Junmyeon couldn't look him in the eyes.

"I'm sorry... I didn't want to..."

The taller gave him a sad smile and pulled him into an embrace.

"We know, Hyung. we all know. But it still hurts sometimes. And now let's go downstairs and eat something, okay? You know how good Kyungsoo's cooking is!"

It wasn't that Junmyeon loved someone of them more than the others, he didn't wish for Kris to replace anyone that sat at the kitchen table and smiled at him when he entered the kitchen. Nor for Tao, nor for Luhan. He just didn't want the remaining three chairs to be left empty when he sat down. He didn't want three rooms in this mansion being empty. He just wanted them to be complete again and he didn't know if that was too much to ask. Was it wrong that he missed the others? Was he the only one to miss them? To miss Kris' resting bitchface and his dumb smiles? To miss Luhan's soft and caring personality? To miss Tao's sensitivity and his clingyness?

"We miss them all, Hyung."

Kyungsoo's soft voice cut him out of his thoughts.

"We do miss them, but we try to live with it."

Junmyeon gave a small nod and looked at the table. He knew that he was being unfair, but it was hard to pretend being okay. After all, it was this time of the year again. The time they had first made that promise.

_We are one!_

Standing united was an amazing feeling. Knowing that there would always be someone to stand behind him, to fight for and with him, had meant the world to him. 'We are one' had always been his save heaven. He had people to rely on. 

Now it had become his curse. It always reminded him of the three people he had lost and he cursed that day five years before when he had decided to immortalize that phrase on his body. It was the first thing he saw in the morning when he looked in the mirror. The words were mocking him from right above his heart.

_We are one!_

A promise that had been broken three times since three years before.

And broken promises left unseen scars.


	5. chapter 3 - They Never Know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THkK2F7_iDk

It had been a rainy morning when the trouble went down. 

Kyungsoo still didn't know how and why exactly they had landed in prison as a result. He had always been someone who followed the rules and there never had been the need to do something illegal. 

The only thing he knew was that Junmyeon had appeared in his room - he had intruded through the window, which was especially weird considering that the house belonged to Junmyeon himself and that Kyungsoo's room was on the first floor - and then suddenly there was chaos.

Kyungsoo didn't like chaos. He was a very neat and organized person and even though Junmyeon definitely was a little messy, his mess had never once before reached this point - well, it wasn't exactly _his_ mess, to be accurate; they just had to go through the mess of somebody else.

This day was full of firsts, started by Junmyeon jumping through a window and followed by events that seemed surreal to Kyungsoo, who still couldn't figure out the exact reasons for everything.

"Hyung...? What...why...?"

He didn't get to ask more questions or get answer, because Baekhyun screamed downstairs. They didn't wait for a second scream to storm down - after all there could be something bad happening right now, worse than a big spider above the kitchen table, which was usually the reason when Baekhyun was freaking out.

They were right. 

When they arrived at the living room, the boy lay on the ground knocked out and there was a man above him holding a baseball bat. Without a second thought Junmyeon stormed in the room to protect his child. He couldn't let anyone else disappear from his family.

Junmyeon didn't come far before the man hit him with the back of his weapon and the young man stumbled and fell right in front of the man's feet, who grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up again.

"You're Kim Junmyeon, right?"

Suho nodded surprisedly. The man grinned.

"I'm an executive of ' _Monster_ ' and you as the leader of ' _EXO_ ' will have to be responsible for the crimes of your subordinates."

That had been the first time that they had heard of ' _Monster_ '. 

And all of them wished they would never ever have met someone who knew of the group.

~ ~ ~

"It's good to see you again, _Yifan_!"

There was a dangerously sweet tone in Junmyeon's voice that the blond didn't quite understand.

"You seem to be angry."

It was out before Kris remembered the very first rule of talking with Kim Junmyeon: If you didn't want him to kill you when he was angry, you better either apologized first or pretended you didn't know of him being angry. Suho was a very soft and caring person usually, but he could be quite scary when you did something wrong.

"Soooo..." Kris managed to say before the wrath could unload over him, "...why _exactly_ are you angry...?"

Junmyeon glared at him.

"You don't know, _Wu Yifan_? Isn't it your fault that we meet again here? In a fucking prison? Do you think I'm a goddamn retard?!"

The taller tried to not wince and to keep his pride.

"So you finally learned to curse? But actually no, last time I checked, I wasn't responsible for you being here. Why would I?"

Junmyeon suspiciously squinted his eyes and stared at the taller for a few seconds.

"You're not the one who is responsible for our involvement with ' _Monster_ '?"

Kris raised one eyebrow and crossed his arms while staring down on the other.

"You shouldn't even know that group exists. How do you know of them?" he said silently with a dark, dangerous undertone that let Junmyeon take a step back.

"Can you please not pick up a fight in here, Kris?"

The appearance of Kyungsoo made Kris give up on his aggressive pose. He still had a very clear image of what could happen if you woke the demon behind those large, innocent eyes and the heart shaped lips. He didn't have the nickname Satansoo for nothing.

"We don't know why, but an executive of ' _Monster_ ' suddenly started following Junmyeon-hyung and broke into our house to make him take responsibility for something an EXO-member did. There are only three people who could be the suspect in this case: you, Luhan-hyung and Tao, with you being the most likely one. So we would like to know what crimes ' _Monster_ ' made us responsible for."

Kris sighed and sat himself on one of the beds in the room.

"I'm sorry," he said, "as much as I would like to tell you, I'm the wrong person to ask. I had my bonds with ' _Monster_ ', but that lies in the past and I don't have anything to do with your situation. Actually, my involvement with ' _Monster_ ' was the reason I left in the first place. I couldn't risk letting you get hurt because of that."


	6. chapter 4 - Angel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9z9PGZQ3S0

"I still can't believe that we're all here at the moment. It just seems so...random. But at the same time it seems like it's fate."

Luhan grabbed his belongings and turned to Tao. The younger awkwardly stood next to the door of Luhan's office and didn't look at his friend.

"What's wrong?"

The black haired shook his head.

"Nothing...I'm fine..."

Luhan sent him another worried look, but didn't ask again. Tao had always had his little secrets and usually had told them sooner or later anyways so there was not much point in asking him.

"Okay, let's go."

They had shared the same way home ever since Tao had moved closer to the prison they were working in. Luhan had never been to his apartment, but he picked the younger up and drove him back home after work, because, apparently, Huang Zitao did not have a car. It was something that seemed odd to the older, but there actually were quite some things that seemed odd ever since Tao had appeared in his life again.

The brown haired didn't think too much into it though. Overthinking wasn't a good thing and usually made things worse than they were. If there was something wrong with Tao it would become obvious anyways. The younger had never been a very good liar. Quite contrary, he had always been kind of an angel. A very annoying angel, but an angel nonetheless.

He had always been way too honest with his feelings and problems and Luhan still felt that he could trust him. Tao still felt like that cute kid to him. The kid that he had gotten to know so many years ago when he himself had only been a teenager. The youngest of the Chinese had always been the most clingy and adorable one of the maknae line and probably all of the hyungs had felt that overwhelming desire to protect him even though they knew that the boy was very well capable of protecting himself.

Luhan glanced over at the younger who sat next to him in the car. The black haired stared out of the window and seemed deep in thought.

"Are you really okay?"

He could see that the other made quite some effort not to wince.

"Yeah...yeah...everything's alright... Don't worry, Ge."

Tao forced a smile and guided his gaze out of the window again.

He was thinking of the time they had all been one huge group of friends. He kinda missed these days. He missed being the baby, being surrounded by love. It was something his lonely apartment couldn't give him. He didn't go out much except for work, he hadn't found other friends yet - to be honest he hadn't searched for new friends. He wasn't a good friend anyways.

"See you tomorrow," Luhan cheered when Tao got out of the car and again the younger faked a smile.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Ge."

He threw his bag over his shoulder and walked the few steps to the house he was living in. A few moments he just stood in front of the door, contemplating whether he should go inside or not, but in the end he got his keys and opened the door.

The few seconds in the elevator were as lonely as always. When he came home there was usually no one else outside of their apartment, and he knew that in the floor he was living on actually only two apartments were occupied, one of them being his own. 

His apartment wasn't exactly the most welcoming. He had moved some months ago, but hadn't bothered to put up anything except the necessities. There were no pictures, no personal things. Just a kitchen, that had already been in the apartment when he had moved in, a bed, a closet, just the things he really needed.

He almost laughed at the thought of how Luhan's face would look would he see this. Tao had always been a child that loved to collect stuff, whose clothing was all over the place, who had plastered his walls with posters and pictures of their friend group. All that was gone. 

The black haired let his bag fall next to his bed and sat down, playing with his phone.

He wouldn't have to wait long probably.

And really, it took only minutes till his phone rang.

It was a number he hadn't saved, but a number he already knew by heart.

His hands didn't even shake anymore when he accepted the call.

"I heard you got a newcomer at work. Did you like that little surprise, Zitao?"

He didn't answer, but he knew that the caller didn't expect an answer anyways.

"Let's get back to business, Zitao. We have a task for you."

"Who is it this time?" Tao asked silently, lifting his pillow and revealing the gun underneath.

He had fallen quite some time ago. He was no angel. Not anymore.


	7. chapter 5 - She's Dreaming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/CiRr1f7bEJI

It was cold outside. She had turned the air conditioning on, but knew that it wouldn’t help against the cold she felt inside herself.

She was waiting, knew that she would soon get a visitor.

Her suite was dark, she hadn’t bothered to turn the lights on – well, she didn’t need to anyways. The city was blindingly light in front of the glass facade and she knew where everything was in the room anyways.

If it wasn’t night, her suite looked friendly, welcoming. Full of warm brown tones and with a few plants it could very well be the home of a noble, caring businesswoman, who was interested in making life better for everyone and had great dreams.

Now, without light, it was more befitting of her true self. She was a dreamer, yes, but her plans didn’t involve any kind of playing nice. In the end everyone was responsible for their own life and she wasn’t going to back down so that others could take her place. She didn’t have only great dreams, but also great ambitions. Ambitions that she would follow through with.

She took another sip from her wine and savored the taste. Why would she give all of this up to help someone in their hopeless struggles? Why risk getting overpowered by someone else, when her ambitions were so much higher than what she had now? In the end people were selfish beings and only if you became ruthless you could move anything.

Exactly this was her plan. She would change everything in the end.

She would be the hero.

But no hero had ever made it through their story without being the stronger one. Battles weren’t won by being nice and she had long given up on her childish naivety that everyone would be nice and would love each other.

She fought battles in reality, not in some stupid dream world.

And since it was the real world and people were just the embodiment of selfishness it wasn’t wrong to accept a few sacrifices.

There would be victims anyways.

People would still steal, hate and kill anyways; they would still rely on substances in disregards of their own health; they would still exploit and abuse. So what difference did it make if she took control over all of that? If she was the one in power then things could be changed easily.

She knew that it was a great dream, a dangerous dream, that could very well cause her own fall, but she was ready to take on that risk. Because if she didn’t then who else would?

She took another sip while looking at the city lights. All these people that she would have power over. She had to be careful that her ambitions didn’t take control of her, _she_ had to be the one in control!

“Why did you call me here?”

It was no unfamiliar voice, even though she usually didn’t talk with him in person. She smiled. He was such a precious angel and she was actually sorry that she had to ruin him, but victims weren’t avoidable in battles and the innocent ones always died first.

“Zitao. Please take a seat. I just wanted to have a little chat with you. Do you want some wine?”

Even though it was dark and she could only see his silhouette, she knew he was frowning, but he sat down on the couch nevertheless and accepted the glass she brought him after she had turned on the lights to create a dim, mysterious atmosphere. He still looked so very young with his messy, black hair and glinting eyes. He hadn’t lost any of his will.

It was so very unfortunate that they couldn’t have met under different circumstances. She would have loved to spare him and make sure he stayed the precious, innocent soul he had been before. Sadly that wasn’t possible.

Because he had met the wrong people.

Because he still protected the wrong people.

And because he was the only opportunity she had to get back what was hers.

She sat down opposite to him, her legs crossed comfortably.

“I just wanted to ask you about him. How was it to see him again, Zitao? You were surprised, weren’t you?”

He clearly didn’t know her intention, confusion and irritation written all over his face even though he tried to hide it.

“I...was surprised, yes. I didn’t expect to see him here. Then again he has acted against the law, so...”

“Did he recognize you?”

It was fairly interesting to watch his expression. He always tried to be so secretive and neutral and still his face was an open book; all the emotions visible.

“Yes...he did. May I ask why you want to know all of this?”

He didn’t trust her. Well, he had all the reasons to not trust her. She had given him plenty.

“I’m just interested. Maybe I want to understand you. I want to understand why after all these years and after everything wrong he has done you still want to protect him.”

For a moment he seemed as if he would answer her, but then he shut her out and just downed his glass.

“It’s none of your business why I do the things I do. You just have to know that I’m going to do hat I can to protect him, and that’s all you should care for!”

“Of course.”

She smiled. She really would have liked to not put him through this.

But sacrifices had to be made. All to protect her dream.


	8. chapter 6 - Diamond

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://youtu.be/mWeY03cA3bM

The jewelry felt way too heavy in Junmyeon's hands and he was trying to convince himself that he was doing the right thing, that he wasn't just being selfish even though he clearly was.

After all it definitely wasn't the right thing to steal and even though he wasn't alone he felt the burden as if he was the one responsible for this mess. Somewhere deep inside he knew he wasn't the one who had caused this, but he was the one who should have protected the others, who should have made sure that they wouldn't get pulled into this as well.

They should all be normal people, just living their lives with normal jobs and without having to do anything that was illegal.

Instead he, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo had become quite good in breaking into jewelry stores, Sehun and Jongin had become quite good at dealing with weapons, he didn't even know what Jongdae and Minseok were doing and he also didn't know if he wanted to know.

What he knew, though, was that they were all getting involved because of him. Because he was not a good leader and an even worse guardian. Because they were protecting him instead of being protected by him.

And because they all were protecting Yixing.

Because Junmyeon hadn't even been able to protect that one, most innocent soul.

But he would do everything to get him back. If robbing shops for some shady organization was the only chance of fulfilling his selfishness to keep the illusion of them still being whole and protect Yixing, then he was willing to pay that price.

It took him a while to realize when the lights went on and suddenly there were armed people around him. Junmyeon was caught like a bunny in a flashlight. Next to him he could already hear the protesting voices of Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, but it only at the back of his perception.

It didn't seem that important because his mind was still trying to understand the fact that they had been sold out. That this probably was the method ' _Monster_ ' had chosen to get rid of them.

It was funny... Going to prison had always seemed so cruel and disturbing to him, but now...now it was something that made him almost feel free.

"Hyung! Junmyeon-hyung!"

It was that voice that made him snap out of his daze.

That voice, that he hadn't heard for quite a while now. At least not in person.

He looked up.

"Yixing...!"

The other smiled at him and Junmyeon could see the relief on his face.

"Thank god you finally respond!"

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo also looked relieved and for a second Junmyeon thought that he had only been dreaming all that terrible stuff and they were still at home, but then he saw the handcuffs. So they really were going to prison huh?

~ ~ ~

They had been disposed of that day, but Junmyeon couldn't even describe how thankful he was that none of them had been killed or significantly hurt. It didn't make much sense to him that a criminal organization that had no problems with killing people and had even turned two of his friends into killers wouldn't kill them, but he wouldn't complain.

Prison wasn't fun, but at least they were kind of safe. And they didn't have to go against their morals anymore.

"Don't you think it's kinda strange?"

Baekhyun had spread himself over his mattress and stared at the ceiling above him.

"That we're all here I mean. It was already weird when they put us in these cells together even though we didn't even have the same processes and committed very different crimes. But then we we found out that Tao works here. And Luhan-hyung got placed here as well. And now it's Kris-hyung. Something's not right."

They all felt it. They all had sensed it from the very beginning, but no one could even begin to explain why.

"Taozi was here from the beginning?"

Chanyeol nodded.

"Yes, we only found out later, but he's been here a year longer than all of us."

Kris strode over to his own bed and sat down on it. He sighed.

"Then he's the reason."

His expression was stern, but his head was spinning. What had happened with Tao to be involved in something like this?

"I'm pretty sure this wasn't exactly _Monster_ 's doing. They work differently. So I guess there's a third party involved. A third party that Taozi works with."

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Not really content with this chapter, but I guess I'll have to live with it. I'm aware that the story is extremely confusing and I will probably re-write it once it's finished. Since basically no one reads this story anyways...   
Anyways, I hope I'll get to tie some things together in the next chapter.


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